Walter Augustus Shirley
Encyclopedia
Walter Augustus Shirley (1797–1847) was an English churchman, bishop of Sodor and Man
Bishop of Sodor and Man
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese covers the Isle of Man. The see is in the town of Peel where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of St German, elevated to cathedral status on 1...

 from 1846.

Life

He was born on 30 May 1797 at Westport
Westport
-Canada:*Westport, Nova Scotia*Westport, Ontario**Westport Rideaus, local junior "B" ice hockey team**Westport/Rideau Lakes Airport*Westport, Newfoundland and Labrador-Republic of Ireland:*Westport, County Mayo**Westport House**Westport railway station...

, Ireland, where his father held a curacy, the only son of Walter Shirley, by his wife Alicia, daughter of Sir Edward Newenham. His grandfather was Walter Shirley
Walter Shirley (clergyman)
Walter Shirley was an English clergyman, hymn-writer, and controversialist, of Calvinist and Methodist views.-Life:The fourth son of the Hon. Laurence Shirley and Anne, daughter of Sir Walter Clarges, bart., he was born at Staunton Harrold, Leicestershire, on 23 September 1725...

. At the age of nine Shirley was placed under the care of the Rev. Legh Richmond
Legh Richmond
Legh Richmond , English divine, was born on the 29th of January 1772, in Liverpool. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1798 was appointed to the joint curacies of St. Mary's Church, Brading and St. John the Baptist Church, Yaverland on the Isle of Wight...

; but was soon moved to a school at Linton
Linton
-Places:Australia* Linton, Victoria* Linton bushfireCanada* Linton, Ontario* Linton, QuebecEngland* Linton, Cambridgeshire* Linton, Derbyshire* Linton, Essex* Linton, Herefordshire** Linton, Bringsty near Bromyard, Herefordshire...

 in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. He became a scholar of Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...

 in 1809, and six years later was elected to a scholarship at New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...

, where he became a Fellow in 1818.

After his ordination on 7 August 1820 he took charge of the parish of Woodford, Northamptonshire
Woodford, Northamptonshire
Woodford is a large village and civil parish in East Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 1,290 people....

, one of the livings held by his father. In 1821 he became curate of Parwich
Parwich
Parwich is a village and parish in the Derbyshire Dales, located 7 miles to the north of Ashbourne. Its population is estimated at slightly over 500 inhabitants....

 in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. In 1822 he was appointed assistant lecturer of Ashbourne
Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Ashbourne is a small market town in the Derbyshire Dales, England. It has a population of 10,302.The town advertises itself as 'The Gateway to Dovedale'.- Local customs :...

 and curate of Atlow
Atlow
Atlow is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, about eight miles west of Belper. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 98.-History:...

, and was awarded the prize for the English essay at Oxford, the subject being the Study of Moral Evidence.

He acted as chaplain at Rome in the winter of 1826–7, and during his residence there he became intimately acquainted with Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen and Thomas Erskine, as well as with Charles Lock Eastlake
Charles Lock Eastlake
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake RA was an English painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the early 19th century.-Early life:...

 and David Wilkie
David Wilkie (artist)
Sir David Wilkie was a Scottish painter.- Early life :Wilkie was the son of the parish minister of Cults in Fife. He developed a love for art at an early age. In 1799, after he had attended school at Pitlessie, Kettle and Cupar, his father reluctantly agreed to his becoming a painter...

. In the autumn of 1827 he was married at Paris to Maria, daughter of William Waddington, and at the same time his father resigned the living of Shirley
Shirley, Derbyshire
Shirley is a small village in Derbyshire, close to the town of Ashbourne. It is situated in the countryside on top of a small hill.-History:Shirley was mentioned in the Domesday book as belonging to Henry de Ferrers and being worth forty shillings.....

 in his favour. He took possession of his new home in January 1828. After nine years' residence at Shirley he accepted the living of Whiston
Whiston
Whiston is the name of several places in England:* Whiston, Merseyside* Whiston, Northamptonshire* Whiston, South Yorkshire...

, near Rotherham
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...

, which he held jointly with Shirley. He gave up the former cure two years later, when he was appointed to the incumbency of Brailsford
Brailsford
Brailsford is a small red brick village in Derbyshire on the A52 midway between Derby and Ashbourne. The village has a pub, a post office, a petrol station and a school...

, a parish adjoining that of Shirley. In 1829 he alienated some of his friends by his outspoken advocacy of Catholic emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...

; in later years he estranged others by refusing to support measures against the Tractarians. His own upbringing and views were evangelical

He was made archdeacon of Derby by the bishop of Lichfield on 21 December 1840. In November 1846 he was appointed bishop of Sodor and Man by Lord John Russell; but because of a serious illness he was not consecrated until 10 January 1847. He had been elected Bampton lecturer for that year, but lived only long enough to deliver two of the lectures of his course. He died at Bishop's Court, Isle of Man, on 21 April 1847. His only son was Walter Waddington Shirley
Walter Waddington Shirley
-Life:The only son of Walter Augustus Shirley, bishop of Sodor and Man, he was born at Shirley, Derbyshire, on 24 July 1828. He was educated at Rugby School under Thomas Arnold...

.

Among his pupils were Stafford Henry Northcote, and his nephew, William Henry Waddington
William Henry Waddington
William Henry Waddington was a French statesman who was Prime Minister of France in 1879.-Early life and education:...

, the French minister.

Works

In addition to his Oxford prize essay, Shirley published ‘A Charge to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Derby,’ 1846. The two Bampton lectures that he had delivered, together with two others which he had completed before death overtook him, were published in 1847 under the title of ‘The Supremacy of the Holy Scriptures.’
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